Ezekiel 27:33
When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise. When thy wares went forth out of the seas, thou filledst many people; thou didst enrich the kings of the earth with the multitude of thy riches and of thy merchandise.
The verse describes the height of Tyre's maritime trade, when its goods went out over the seas to supply many peoples and its abundance of wealth and merchandise enriched the kings of the earth. It stands within the lamentation over Tyre that foretells her utter ruin among the judgments pronounced upon foreign nations. Her great commercial prosperity came just before her foretold fall, making her an example of a wealthy and proud city brought low as a warning that cities and peoples who forget and defy God face judgment. That same self-exalting spirit of gain appears in Babylon, whose worldwide commerce gathers riches and commodities until its fall leaves its great wealth desolate.
Tyre's Commerce and Context
When her wares went forth out of the seas, Tyre carried on a prosperous maritime trade that supplied many peoples and enriched the kings of the earth with the multitude of her riches and merchandise. Her seaborne commerce went out in abundance of goods and wealth, bringing wealth to many peoples and to kings through what came from the sea.
Tyre was the great commercial city of ancient times, the commercial emporium of Phoenicia and the merchant city of the world at the time Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem. She was the London, Liverpool, and New York of the Orient, and the filling of many peoples and the enriching of kings with riches and merchandise sets forth the extent of her commerce.
The verse belongs to the lamentation over Tyre in Ezekiel 26-28, which speaks prophetically against a foreign nation and predicts the utter ruin of Tyre. Those chapters stand as part of the prophecies concerning other nations in Ezekiel 25-31 about Ammon, Moab, Tyre, and Egypt.
Judgment Warning and Application
Ezekiel 27:33 belongs to the prophecies concerning other nations in Ezekiel 25-31 about Ammon, Moab, Tyre, and Egypt, whose fulfilment is evident today. Its seaborne trade supplied many peoples and enriched the kings of the earth through its great wealth and merchandise, and this commercial prosperity preceded the city's foretold fall, which came to pass in history. The chapter sets that prosperity alongside coming judgment, making Tyre an example of a wealthy, proud city brought low. It is therefore a warning that cities, including prosperous ones, and people face judgment when they forget and defy God, a lesson drawn also from Babylon's fate.
That extensive commerce is linked with the corrupt, self-exalting spirit that also characterizes Babylon. Babylon is portrayed as a worldwide federation that gathers wealth and commodities, even the bodies and souls of people, and puts gain before God. The verse thus helps portray Babylon's commercial power, which enriches many peoples and kings through sea-borne trade. That power ends when the city falls and its great wealth is made desolate.
Because Tyre was the merchant city of the world at the time Nehemiah returned to Jerusalem, whose wares went forth out of the seas to fill many people and enrich kings with riches and merchandise, men of Tyre were especially guilty of bringing in fish and all manner of ware and selling on the Sabbath to the children of Judah in Jerusalem. Tyre's far-reaching sea trade, by which its merchandise supplied many peoples and its great wealth enriched kings, provides the comparison for San Francisco as a major maritime trading city whose commerce and riches served a wide region.